2019 Washington Huskies football team, Schedule
Washington's 2019 schedule begun with a home non-conference game against Eastern Washington of the Big Sky Conference. Washington's two other non-conference games were against Hawaii of the Mountain West Conference at home, and a road game against BYU, a football independent. In Pac-12 Conference play, the Huskies played the other members of the North Division and drew Arizona, Colorado, USC, and Utah from the South Division.


2019 Washington Huskies men's soccer team
The 2019 Washington Huskies men's soccer team represented the University of Washington during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season and the 2019 Pac-12 Conference men's soccer season. It was the program's 57th season fielding a men's varsity soccer team, and their 20th season in the Pac-12 Conference. The 2019 season was Jamie Clark's ninth year as head coach for the program. The regular season began on August 30 and concluded on November 16, with the Huskies winning the 2019 Pac-12 Championship. The conference title has been the third for Washington and its first since 2013. The team had entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 6 seed and lost to the eventual national champions Georgetown in quarterfinals.


2019 Washington Huskies men's soccer team, Background
The Huskies finished the 2018 season with a 12–7–1 overall record and a 6–4 record in Pac-12 play, good enough for a third place finish in the conference. Despite not winning the Pac-12 title, the Huskies earned an at-large berth into the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. Washington hosted Lipscomb University in the first round, where they tied 0–0 in regulation before losing 4–5 on penalty kicks. Scott Menzies lead Washington with 7 goals across all competitions.


2019 Washington Huskies men's soccer team, Roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Washington Huskies men's soccer team, Preseason, Preseason Pac-12 poll
Washington was predicted to finish second in the Pac-12 Conference.


2019 Washington Initiative 976
Initiative Measure No. 976 (I-976) is a ballot initiative in the U.S. state of Washington that appeared on the ballot on November 5, 2019. The initiative was brought to the state legislature by a petition sponsored by Tim Eyman. The initiative would cap taxes on certain cars at $30 and put an end to transportation benefit districts and other local vehicle taxes. The campaign in favor of the initiative was led by Tim Eyman, Permanent Offense, and Voters Want More Choices, while the campaign against the initiative was led by the Northwest Progressive Institute.


2019 Washington Initiative 976
Opponents of the initiative fear that its passage would take away money from ongoing transportation projects, including voter-approved measures, such as Sound Transit 3, while supporters claim that the initiative would end assessing practices that they claim are dishonest. The practices include using out-dated fee schedules for assessing vehicles. Unsuccessful attempts were made to require the use of more recent fee schedules in the state legislature.


2019 Washington Initiative 976
The ballot measure was passed, with 53 percent of voters in favor at the time of certification. The governments of Seattle and King County, along with other groups from across the state, announced plans to halt the initiative through legal action, disputing the ballot language as "misleading to voters". A judge in the King County Superior Court issued a temporary injunction in November 2019 and the case is pending further action.


2019 Washington Initiative 976
In February 2020, the King County Superior Court largely upheld I-976, but kept the measure on hold pending a ruling from the Washington State Supreme Court.


2019 Washington Initiative 976
On October 15, 2020 the Washington State Supreme Court struck down the initiative by ruling it unconstitutional because it "contains more than one subject and its subject is not accurately expressed in its title".


2019 Washington Justice season
The 2019 Washington Justice season was the first season of Washington Justice's existence in the Overwatch League as one of eight expansion franchises added for the 2019 season. The Justice struggled throughout the first three stages of the season, posting a 2–19 record in the first 21 games. However, the Justice flourished after the League's implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock for Stage 4, as the team lost only one match in their final seven games to finish the season in 17th place with an 8–20 record.


2019 Washington Justice season, Preceding offseason
On September 12, Washington announced the signing of former New York Excelsior coach Kim "WizardHyeong" Hyeong-seok as the team's head coach. Eight days later, Washington signed Molly "AVALLA" Kim as an analyst; AVALLA is the first female coach to be signed in the history of the Overwatch League. Justice announced its inaugural season starting roster between September and December, consisting of the following players:


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 1
The Justice's first regular season match was against the New York Excelsior on February 16. Washington fell to a quick 0–2 deficit after losing on Ilios and King's Row, but the team was subsequently able to full-hold New York on the third map, Horizon Lunar Colony, en route to winning the map; however, the Justice lost on last map, Rialto, to lose the series 1–3. The next week, the Justice first took on the 2018 champions London Spitfire. Washington came out strong, winning the first two maps to go up 2–0 going into halftime. They would not be able to close out the match, as Washington yielded the next three consecutive maps fall 2–3.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 1
The team's next match was against the Philadelphia Fusion on February 28. After winning the first map, Ilios, the Justice lost three maps in a row to fall in the series by a score of 1–3. Two days later, the team took on the San Francisco Shock. Washington was dominated throughout the entirety of the match – even yielding the fastest completion time on Numbani in OWL history – and was swept 0–4. Washington faced the Seoul Dynasty a week later. An uncoordinated effort led the team to losing the first three maps, guaranteeing a match loss, but they were able to win the final map, Dorado, to lose the series 1–3.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 1
In the final week of Stage 1, the Justice first took on the Paris Eternal on March 16. Washington fell in the first map, Busan, and was able to force a tie on King's Row to enter halftime down 0–1. Washington struck back after halftime, winning Volskaya Industries, but they failed to stop Paris from completing Dorado on their attack and was unable to doing the same, leading to a 1–2 loss in the match. Washington's final match of Stage 1 was against the Florida Mayhem a day later. Washington took the first two maps of the game, but Florida snagged the following two maps, forcing the match to a  fifth tiebreaker map. Justice was able to take the final map, giving the franchise their first victory, and ending the stage with a 1–6 record.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
Following their final match of Stage 1, the Justice acquired support player Hong "ArK" Yeon-jun from New York Excelsior.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
The Justice opened Stage 2 with a match against the Toronto Defiant on April 5. Washington failed to get a single point on both Lijiang Tower and Hanamura to enter halftime down 0–2. A loss on Blizzard World solidified the loss; they picked up a win on Junkertown to lose the match by a 1–3 scoreline. Two days later, Washington faced the Chengdu Hunters. In response to Chengdu's unconventional compositions, the Justice also veered away from the typical triple tank, triple support composition. The match saw an Overwatch League record 27-of-30 heroes played for more than a minute across the four maps. Washington was only able to find one map win in the series, as they fell by a score of 1–3.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
In week two, the Justice took on the undefeated New York Excelsior on April 11. Washington failed to find a map win in the series and were swept 0–4 for the second time of the season. Two days later, the team faced the Atlanta Reign. The Justice fell on Busan and full-held Atlanta on the second map, Paris, en route to tying the series 1–1 heading into halftime. Washington failed to win on Eichenwalde and, despite much stronger showing on Rialto, they could not secure win on the final map, leading to a 1–3 loss.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
On April 19, the Justice acquired support Nikola "Sleepy" Andrews from the San Francisco Shock. Just hours following the signing, Washington faced the Los Angeles Valiant, who also only had one win in the season. Surprisingly, Sleepy saw playtime in the match despite having only minimal practice with the team. Washington failed to secure a win, as they fell to the Valiant by a 1–3 scoreline.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
After a week off from play, the Justice took on the Shanghai Dragons on May 3. Washington fell on Paris and Blizzard World to enter halftime down 0–2. Following, the Justice were able to full-hold the Dragons on Blizzard World to claim the map win but, subsequently, fell on Watchpoint: Gibraltar to lose the series 1–3. Their final match of Stage 2 was against the Boston Uprising two days later.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 2
Boston jumped out to a quick 2–0 lead heading into halftime, but Washington came back following, winning three maps in a row to win the match 3–2 and claim their only win in Stage 2. Again, the Justice would end the stage with a 1–6 record, bringing their overall record to 2–12.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 3
Washington's first match of Stage 3 was against the Dallas Fuel on June 9. While the Justice fell convincingly in map one, Oasis, the team was able to force a draw on map two, Volskaya Industries, to head into halftime down 0–1. Washington failed to stop Dallas from completing their attack on Eichenwalde, leading to a map loss, and was full-held on Havana to ultimately lose the match 0–3.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 3
The following week, the Justice faced the Hangzhou Spark on June 15. After loss and a tie in the first two maps, Washington was handed one of the most dominant map losses in the history of the Overwatch League on Hollywood, as the team only secured two eliminations in the entire map. The team went on to lose 0–3 against the Spark. The following day, Washington took on the Los Angeles Gladiators. The Justice failed to secure a single map in the match, extending that streak to twelve maps, as they were swept 0–4.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 3
In their only match of week three, Washington took on the London Spitfire. After winning the first map, Nepal, Washington and London tied on Paris. Up 1–0 in the match, the Justice could not turn the lead into a victory, as they dropped both maps three and four take a 1–2 loss. The Justice had only one match in week four, as well, against the Houston Outlaws on June 28. After losing the first map and tying on the second, the Justice lost the final two to lose the match by a 0–3 scoreline.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 3
For the final week of Stage 3, Washington headed to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta to play at the "Atlanta Reign Homestand Weekend". Their first match at the homestand was against the Philadelphia Fusion on July 6. Both teams mirrored each other's composition throughout the match, but the Justice were unable to come out on top, as the game ended with a 1–3 loss for Washington. The following day, the team took on the Guangzhou Charge. The stage ended on a low note for they Justice, as they were swept 0–4 by the Charge to give Washington a winless Stage 3 record.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 4
Prior to the start of Stage 4, which would include the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, the Justice signed tanks Elliot "ELLIVOTE" Vaneryd and Lukas "LullSiSH" Wiklund from the Dallas Fuel's academy team Team Envy.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 4
The Justice's first match of Stage 4 was against the Toronto Defiant on July 26; Washington came out of the match with a 3–1 victory. The following week, Washington took on the Florida Mayhem on August 1. The Mayhem jumped out to a quick 2–0 lead, but the Justice rallied back and took the following three maps to complete a reverse sweep and win the match 3–2. The win gave the Justice their first ever winning streak. Three days later, the team took on the league-leading Vancouver Titans. In a major upset, the Justice handed the Titans their first ever 0–4 loss and only their second loss in the entire regular season. DPS Corey "Corey" Nigra led the Justice throughout the match and broke the Overwatch League record for critical hit accuracy on Hanzo.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 4
Looking to continue their dominance in the new 2-2-2 meta, Washington next took on the Boston Uprising on August 9. Fueled by the continued stellar play from DPS Corey, the red-hot Justice proved too much to handle, as they took down Boston by a score of 3–1. Two days later, the team faced the Houston Outlaws. After the teams split the first four maps, the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map. The Justice came out on top and won the match 3–2 to continue their undefeated Stage 4 record.


2019 Washington Justice season, Regular season, Stage 4
The following week, the Justice faced the Atlanta Reign, who was also undefeated in Stage 4, on August 16. Washington lost the first map, Busan, and came out with a tie on the second map, Hanamura, to enter halftime down 0–1. Washington struck back on Hollywood, full-holding Atlanta on their attack, to tie the series heading into Junkertown. The Justice failed to win map four and lost the series 1–2. The team's final match of the regular season was against the Paris Eternal two days later. The Justice ended the 2019 season on a high note by defeating the Eternal by a score of 3–1.


2019 Washington Justice season, Final roster, Transactions
Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:


2019 Washington Mystics season
The 2019 WNBA season was the 22nd for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Mystics winning their first WNBA Championship.


2019 Washington Mystics season
The Mystics began playing at the St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena in  the 2019 season. The arena holds a maximum of 4,200 spectators per game.


2019 Washington Mystics season
They began the season on May 25, 2019 versus the Connecticut Sun. On August 31, with a victory over the Dallas Wings, the Mystics set a franchise record for wins at 23. The previous record was 22, held jointly by the 2010 and 2018 teams. They entered the playoffs as the top-seeded team, and defeated the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals and the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA Finals.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason
In 2019, the Washington Nationals advanced to the World Series for the first time in franchise history and also Washington, D.C.'s first appearance in the World Series since the American League's Senators in 1933. They proceeded to defeat the Houston Astros in seven games to win the franchise's first World Series championship, and the first for Washington, D.C. since 1924.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Wild-Card Game, October 1
Scherzer walked the Brewers′ first batter, right fielder Trent Grisham, and then gave up a home run in the next Milwaukee at-bat to catcher Yasmani Grandal. In the second inning, Milwaukee first baseman Eric Thames led off with a solo home run, and the Nationals trailed 3–0. Against Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff, the Nationals managed only two hits, although one of them was a home run that shortstop Trea Turner hit in the bottom of the third to cut Milwaukee's lead to 3–1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Wild-Card Game, October 1
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Milwaukee closer Josh Hader came in for a potential six-out save. Michael A. Taylor pinch-hit for Strasburg and reached first when the umpiring crew ruled that a pitch which appeared either to have hit Taylor or the knob of his bat had in fact hit him, and a Brewers challenge resulted in that decision being upheld. Ryan Zimmerman hit a broken-bat single to center, advancing Taylor to third. After Andrew Stevenson came in to pinch-run for Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon walked on a full count to load the bases.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Wild-Card Game, October 1
Juan Soto then singled to right and outfielder Trent Grisham misplayed the ball; by the time Soto was tagged out between second and third to end the inning, Taylor, Stevenson, and Rendon all had scored to give the Nationals a 4–3 lead, their first lead of the game. Soto, with his back to the play and unsure whether the throw was going to home or third, pulled up between bases to bait the Brewers into catching him in a rundown, thus ensuring that Rendon would score the go-ahead run before Soto could be tagged out. Daniel Hudson then closed for the Nats, giving up one hit in a scoreless ninth inning and earning a save to lock down a 4–3 victory.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 3
The Dodgers scored their first run in the first inning without ever putting the ball in play. Catcher Yan Gomes had a passed ball, and Corbin became only the second pitcher ever to walk four batters in the first inning of his first postseason appearance. Corbin then retired seven of the next eight Los Angeles batters. Corbin allowed consecutive singles to second baseman Max Muncy and shortstop Corey Seager to start the fourth inning, although he kept Los Angeles from adding to its lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 3
In the fifth inning, however, he walked center fielder Cody Bellinger with two outs and gave up a single to right fielder Chris Taylor that advanced Bellinger to third, after which Kendrick committed another error on a Muncy grounder that allowed Bellinger to score and stake Los Angeles to a 2–0 lead; Taylor was thrown out at home to end the inning. Corbin left the game after six innings, having thrown 107 pitches, 62 for strikes, and striking out nine Dodgers while walking five and giving up three hits.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 3
For the Dodgers, Buehler allowed only one base runner – on a second-inning single by left fielder Juan Soto – through the first three innings. The Nats threatened to tie the game at 1–1 in the fourth inning when right fielder Adam Eaton, third baseman Anthony Rendon, and Kendrick all walked, but Buehler got second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera to ground out to end the inning and kept Washington off the board. Like Corbin, Buehler pitched six innings; he walked three, struck out eight, allowed only one hit, and threw 100 pitches, 62 of them strikes. He retired the last seven batters he faced and left the game with a 2–0 lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 3
Against Los Angeles relievers Adam Kolarek, Kenta Maeda, and Joe Kelly, the Nationals offense managed only more hit, a double by shortstop Trea Turner in the ninth, their only base runner after the fourth inning; the Dodgers pitching staff finished with a combined 13 strikeouts, giving up only three walks. The Washington bullpen fared poorly, allowing four hits, two walks, and four earned runs over two innings of work.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 1, October 3
With one out in the seventh, Nationals reliever Tanner Rainey – making the first postseason appearance of his career – walked pinch hitter Joc Pederson and gave up a single to third baseman Justin Turner. Fernando Rodney came in to relieve Rainey, walked Taylor to load the bases, and allowed a two-out single to Muncy that scored Bellinger and Turner and stretched the Dodgers′ lead to 4–0. In the eighth inning, Hunter Strickland gave up two solo homers, to pitch hitter Gavin Lux and Pederson. The Dodgers shut out the Nationals on two hits and won 6–0 to take a 1–0 series lead. Los Angeles extended its winning streak to eight games, dating back into the regular season, while Washington's winning streak in the regular season and postseason combined ended at nine.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
9:37 p.m. (EDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
Starting for Los Angeles, three-time Cy Young Award-winner Clayton Kershaw had a rocky first inning, giving up a double to Washington's leadoff hitter, shortstop Trea Turner, on the first pitch of the game. He then issued a one-out walk to third baseman Anthony Rendon and hit left fielder Juan Soto with a pitch to load the bases. Second baseman Howie Kendrick singled to drive in Turner from third base before Kershaw got out of the first inning without further damage.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
In the second inning, Kershaw hit the Nats leadoff hitter, center fielder Victor Robles, with a pitch, and Robles reached second on a sacrifice bunt by pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Right fielder Adam Eaton drove in Robles with a single, and Rendon doubled to score Eaton and make the score 3–0. Over the next four innings, Kershaw only gave up two more hits, and he finished his outing with four strikeouts and a walk, having given up three runs on six hits in six innings of work.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
Strasburg had thrown 34 pitches in relief during the wild-card game three days earlier, but returned to the mound to start Game 2 for the Nationals on the shortest rest between appearances of his career. Retiring the first 14 batters he faced, he pitched a perfect game through 4+2⁄3 innings, no Dodger reaching first base until catcher Will Smith singled with two outs in the fifth inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
Strasburg's 23-game postseason scoreless streak, which dated back to the 2014 National League Division Series, finally came to an end in the sixth inning when Dodgers pinch hitter Matt Beaty singled, advanced to third on a double by right fielder Joc Pederson, and scored on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Justin Turner. With the Nats winning 3–1, Strasburg left the game after throwing 85 pitches over six innings of three-hit, one-run ball, issuing no walks and striking out ten Dodgers.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
He lowered his career postseason ERA to 0.64, passing Dodgers great Sandy Koufax – who was in the stands at Dodger Stadium for Game 2 – for the best career postseason ERA in history for a pitcher with at least four postseason starts. By the time he completed his outing, Strasburg had allowed only one run and struck out 14 batters over nine innings of work during the 2019 postseason; for his career, he had pitched 28 postseason innings, striking out 38, walking only four, and allowing his opponents a batting average of only .192.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
The Dodgers closed to a 3–2 deficit when first baseman Max Muncy hit a 413-foot (126 m) solo homer off reliever Sean Doolittle in the seventh inning. In the top of the eighth inning, the Nationals extended their lead to 4–2 when first baseman Ryan Zimmerman doubled, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Robles, and scored on an Asdrúbal Cabrera pinch-hit single; Robles left the game after his bunt with what Nationals manager Dave Martinez described postgame as a "minor hamstring issue."


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
Martinez surprised Dodgers manager Dave Roberts by bringing Max Scherzer – who Martinez had earlier announced as the starter for Game 3 – to pitch the bottom of the eighth in Game 2; making the fourth postseason relief appearance of his career, Scherzer struck out the side on 14 pitches, hitting 99 miles per hour (159 km/h) despite having thrown 77 pitches in the wild-card game he had started three days earlier.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
In the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Hudson came in to close for Washington with the Nationals still leading 4–2. Justin Turner led off against Hudson with a ground-rule double, but then Hudson struck out left fielder A. J. Pollock and Anthony Rendon made a twisting, turning catch, falling to the ground to grab a pop fly to shallow left field by center fielder Cody Bellinger for the second out. Martinez then made a risky decision, intentionally walking the hot-hitting Muncy and bringing the potential winning run to the plate in the form of Will Smith.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 2, October 4
Hudson walked Smith on four pitches to load the bases before striking out shortstop Corey Seager for the final out. Washington's pitching staff combined to strike out 17 Dodgers, and the Nationals won 4–2, snapping an eight-game Dodgers winning streak dating back into the regular season and evening the series at 1–1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Nationals manager Dave Martinez originally planned to have Max Scherzer start Game 3, but after Scherzer threw an inning of relief in Game 2, he opted to give Aníbal Sánchez the start instead and switched Scherzer's start to Game 4. Sánchez got into a bases-loaded jam in the first inning on two walks and a single, but he kept Los Angeles from scoring until the fifth inning, when first baseman Max Muncy hit a solo home run.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Meanwhile, the Nationals – with center fielder Victor Robles sitting out the game with a minor hamstring injury – jumped on Dodgers starter Hyun-jin Ryu in the first inning, when Adam Eaton walked and left fielder Juan Soto hit a two-run homer, Washington's first homer of the series. Ryu left the game after five innings with the Nationals leading 2–1; he had given up four hits and two walks and struck out three during his outing.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Sánchez also pitched five very effective innings and scattered four hits, with nine strikeouts and a walk. By the end of the fifth, he had thrown 87 pitches and faced the Dodgers′ lineup twice, and statistics showed that his performance tended to decline if he faced an opponent's order a third time, so Martinez took him out of the game.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Not believing he could rely on his middle relievers to preserve close leads – Washington's bullpen had finished the regular season with the worst ERA in the National League – Martinez brought in starter Patrick Corbin to pitch what turned out to be the decisive sixth inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Pitching on three days of rest after throwing 107 pitches in six innings in Game 1 and making his first relief appearance since a single appearance in relief for the Arizona Diamondbacks during the 2017 season, Corbin gave up a single to the Dodgers′ leadoff hitter, center fielder Cody Bellinger, but followed that by striking out shortstop Corey Seager and left fielder A. J. Pollock in consecutive at-bats. Then Corbin's slider failed him, and his outing unraveled.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Pinch-hitter David Freese singled, advancing Bellinger to third, and catcher Russell Martin doubled on a 2–2 count, scoring Bellinger and Freese to give Los Angeles a 3–2 lead. Corbin walked pinch hitter Chris Taylor on five pitches, then gave up a double on a 1–2 count to pinch hitter Enrique Hernández that scored Martin and Taylor and stretched the Dodgers′ lead to 5–2. The Nationals then intentionally walked Muncy before taking Corbin out of the game after 35 pitches over two-thirds of an inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Wander Suero relieved Corbin and faced third baseman Justin Turner, who worked the count full and then hit a three-run homer to make the score 8–2. Bellinger followed with a double before Suero induced a groundout by Seager to bring the inning to a close. Eleven Dodgers had come to the plate, and Los Angeles became the first MLB team in history to score seven two-out, two-strike runs in a single postseason inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Despite the shocking turn of events in the top of the sixth, the Nationals staged a rally in the bottom of the inning. Joe Kelly came in to pitch in relief for Los Angeles and was ineffective, issuing consecutive walks to third baseman Anthony Rendon and left fielder Juan Soto before giving up a single to second baseman Howie Kendrick that loaded the bases with no outs. Kelly then threw a wild pitch, allowing Rendon to score from third and the other runners to move up, and walked catcher Yan Gomes to load the bases again.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
Julio Urías relieved Kelly and faced pinch hitter Asdrúbal Cabrera, who hit a sacrifice fly that scored Soto from third but turned into a double play when Kendrick was thrown out trying to tag at second and reach third. Nearly an hour after it began, the sixth inning finally ended when center fielder Michael A. Taylor popped out, ending the Nationals rally with the score 8–4.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 3, October 6
In the seventh inning, Nationals reliever Fernando Rodney gave up a double to Freese and a walk to Martin with one out, then walked Hernández with two outs to load the bases, but got out of the inning without the Dodgers adding to their lead. In the ninth inning, however, Hunter Strickland came in to pitch and gave up two more runs to Los Angeles against the first two batters he faced, surrendering a single to Freese and a two-run homer to Martin. The Dodgers won 10–4 and took a 2–1 lead in the series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
After Alexander Ovechkin, team captain of the National Hockey League′s Washington Capitals, threw the ceremonial first pitch, Max Scherzer took the mound at Nationals Park as the Nats faced elimination in Game 4. He gave up a two-out solo home run to third baseman Justin Turner in the top of the first inning on his tenth pitch of the game, but through the sixth inning gave up only two more hits, allowing the Dodgers no further runs. Over one stretch from the second to the seventh inning, he retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
Behind 1–0 early on the Justin Turner homer, the Nationals mounted their first scoring threat against Los Angeles starter Rich Hill in the third inning. Starting in center field for the second straight game while Victor Robles continued his recovery from his minor hamstring injury in Game 2, Michael A. Taylor led off with a walk. Shortstop Trea Turner followed with a one-out single that advanced Taylor to third, right fielder Adam Eaton walked to load the bases, and third baseman Anthony Rendon scored Taylor from third on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1–1. Left fielder Juan Soto walked to load the bases again before Kenta Maeda relieved Hill and got second baseman Howie Kendrick to ground out to end the inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
The game remained a 1–1 tie until Washington's offense broke out in the bottom of the fifth inning. Julio Urías came in to pitch for Los Angeles, and Trea Turner promptly singled and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Eaton. Rendon then singled, scoring Turner and giving the Nationals their first lead at 2–1. With two outs, Kendrick singled, advancing Rendon to third, and Pedro Báez replaced Urías on the mound.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
Then first baseman Ryan Zimmerman – in his 15th season with Washington and playing amid speculation among fans and the press that he could be playing his final game at Nationals Park – came to bat and hit Báez's second pitch 414 feet (126 m) onto the batter's eye in center field, a three-run homer that give the Nationals a 5–1 lead. Catcher Kurt Suzuki followed with a walk and Taylor with a single that advanced Suzuki to second before Scherzer – the ninth man to bat in the inning – grounded out after an eight-pitch at-bat. The Nationals added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth, when Turner led off with a ground-rule double off Dodgers reliever Ross Stripling, advanced to third on a Stripling wild pitch, and scored on another Rendon sacrifice fly to make the score 6–1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
Finally tiring with one out in the seventh inning, Scherzer allowed a single to left fielder Matt Beaty and walked second baseman Gavin Lux and catcher Will Smith, but, with the bases loaded, he struck out pinch hitter Chris Taylor and induced a groundout by right fielder Joc Pederson – who narrowly missed a bases-clearing double or triple when he drove Scherzer's first pitch hard down the right field line, only to have it land about an inch (2.5 cm) foul – to keep the Dodgers from scoring.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
At the end of the inning, Scherzer left the game after 109 pitches – 72 of them strikes – allowing only four hits, walking three, and striking out seven. During the remainder of the game, each team managed only one single. Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson combined to pitch a scoreless final two innings for Washington, and the Nationals won 6–1, evening the series at 2–2 and forcing a decisive Game 5 at Dodger Stadium two nights later.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 4, October 7
With entire sections in the upper deck nearly empty, Game 4 was the first playoff game in the history of Nationals Park that did not sell out, drawing only 36,847 fans, filling the stadium to only 89 percent of its capacity. It was one of three MLB Division Series games that did not sell out that day; the NLDS game at St. Louis and the 2019 American League Division Series game at Tampa Bay also did not sell out.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
8:37 p.m. (EDT) at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
The Nationals opened Nationals Park to fans for a free watch party – televising the game on the stadium's scoreboard – for Game 5, which took place 2,500 miles (4,000 km) away at Dodger Stadium. It was Washington's third elimination game in eight days, and since moving to Washington the team had lost all three times it had played in Game 5 of a National League Division Series previously.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Making his third postseason appearance, Stephen Strasburg started, and Los Angeles jumped on him early: Right fielder Joc Pederson hit a lead-off ground-rule double and the next Dodgers batter, second baseman Max Muncy – previously 0-for-12 against Strasburg – connected on Strasburg's eighth pitch of the game for a two-run homer over the center field wall. Strasburg continued to labor in the first, giving up a walk and a single before inducing shortstop Corey Seager to ground into an inning-ending double play without allowing Los Angeles to add to its lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
In the second inning, however, Dodgers left fielder Enrique Hernández led off with a solo homer to center on Strasburg's second pitch of the inning to give Los Angeles an early 3–0 lead; it was Hernández's third home run in six career at-bats against Strasburg. Strasburg was far more effective after that, scattering three more singles and leaving the game after six innings with the score still 3–0. Throwing 105 pitches, he allowed six hits, struck out seven, and walked only one Dodger. Tanner Rainey and Patrick Corbin combined to pitch a perfect seventh inning in relief of Strasburg. He left the game having thrown 224 pitches in the 2019 postseason, more than any other MLB pitcher through the end of the four division series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
The Nationals offense had less success against Dodgers starter Walker Buehler, who had one-hit Washington in six innings of work six days earlier in Game 1. This time, Buehler allowed only a single to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman and a walk to Strasburg during the first four innings.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
The Nationals mounted their first scoring threat in the fifth inning, when catcher Kurt Suzuki led off with a walk and center fielder Michael A. Taylor – starting for the third straight game in place of the injured Victor Robles – followed with a single that advanced Suzuki to second, but Buehler struck out Strasburg and shortstop Trea Turner and got right fielder Adam Eaton to fly out, keeping the Nats off the board.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
The Nationals finally broke through against Buehler in the sixth inning, when third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a lead-off double and left fielder Juan Soto singled to drive in Rendon, but Buehler got out of the inning without further damage on a double play and a strikeout, and the inning ended with Los Angeles leading 3–1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
The Nationals again pressed Buehler in the seventh inning. Suzuki led off, and Buehler's fourth pitch ricocheted off his wrist and hit him in the face, a frightening turn of events that forced him to leave the game escorted by the Nationals′ training staff; Yan Gomes came in to pinch run for him and took over the catching duties. Trea Turner then drew a two-out walk, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to take Buehler out of the game; Buehler left having thrown 117 pitches, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out seven in 6+2⁄3 innings.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Roberts brought in ace starter Clayton Kershaw to relieve Buehler, and Kershaw got out of the inning by striking out Eaton. When he returned to the mound to pitch the eighth inning, however, he faltered and the Nationals′ fortunes began to turn around.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Rendon led off with a line-drive homer to center on Kershaw's second pitch of the inning to make the score 3–2 and quiet the crowd, and on Kershaw's next pitch Soto hit a towering 449-foot (137 m) home run – the longest of his career at the time – into the right center field stands, tying the game at 3–3. Kenta Maeda relieved Kershaw and ended the inning on three consecutive strikeouts.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Corbin pitched the bottom of the eighth, allowing only one base runner when he hit third baseman Justin Turner with a pitch. Joe Kelly, who had been ineffective in his Game 3 appearance, pitched the top of the ninth for Los Angeles with far greater success and struck out the side.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
In the bottom of the ninth, Nationals reliever Daniel Hudson gave up a one-out single to Enrique Hernández, and in the next at-bat Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a deep fly ball to right field that prompted Dodgers players to emerge from their dugout in anticipation of celebrating a two-run homer and a walk-off win, but instead the ball settled into Eaton's glove deep on the warning track for the second out. Los Angeles did not score, and the game went into extra innings, still tied at 3–3.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Roberts opted to have Kelly return to the mound to pitch the top of the 10th inning. Kelly walked Eaton to begin the inning, then gave up a ground rule double to Rendon that advanced Eaton to third. The Dodgers then intentionally walked Soto, and second baseman Howie Kendrick came to the plate with no outs and the bases loaded.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Kendrick was 0-for-4 in the game and had had a difficult division series, going 4-for-19 (.211), making a baserunning error in Game 3, hitting into a rally-killing double play in Game 4, and committing three errors in the field, two of them in Game 1 and one earlier in Game 5, but after fouling off Kelly's first pitch he hit Kelly's second one 410 feet (120 m) over the wall in dead center field for his second career grand slam.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
Only the second postseason extra-inning grand slam in MLB history, it gave the Nationals a 7–3 lead and prompted Los Angeles fans to start heading for the exits. After Kelly also gave up a one-out single to Gomes, Roberts was roundly booed by the Los Angeles home crowd when he appeared on the field to take Kelly out of the game. Kenley Jansen relieved Kelly and got the final two outs.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
In the bottom of the 10th, Dodgers hitters faced Sean Doolittle, who pitched a perfect inning, the game ending on a spectacular diving catch in shallow center field by Michael A. Taylor to retire Justin Turner for the third out. The Nationals won the game 7–3 and the series 3–2. For the first time since arriving in Washington in 2005 and only the second time in Montreal-Washington franchise history, the team won a playoff series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, Division Series, Game 5, October 9
It was also the first time a Washington, D.C., MLB team had won a postseason series since the original Washington Senators won the 1924 World Series. The Nationals became the first team in MLB history to come from three or more runs behind to win an elimination game twice during the same postseason, and they advanced to the National League Championship Series to face the St. Louis Cardinals.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
8:08 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Making the franchise's first National League Championship Series appearance as the Washington Nationals and only its second NLCS appearance other than one by the Montreal Expos in 1981, the Nationals traveled to face the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Daniel Hudson, who had emerged as a reliable late-inning reliever and closer for the Nationals, was on paternity leave in Phoenix, Arizona, for the birth of his daughter and missed the game; he was the first MLB player ever to go on paternity leave during the postseason, and the media wondered aloud about how his absence might affect Washington's often shaky bullpen.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Starting center fielder Victor Robles, still nursing a hamstring injury he had suffered in Game 2 of the Division Series, missed his fourth straight game, and catcher Kurt Suzuki, who was recovering from being hit in the wrist and face by a pitch in Game 5 of the Division Series also was out of the lineup.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Washington's "Big Three" starters – Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin – had seen heavy use so far in the postseason, so Nationals manager Dave Martinez rested them and put No. 4 starter Aníbal Sánchez on the mound to face the Cardinals. It was the ninth postseason start of Sánchez's career, but he had pitched only five innings over the previous 15 days. A pitcher's duel ensued.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Sánchez pitched a masterpiece, retiring the first ten batters he faced with his first 35 pitches, allowing no Cardinal to reach base for 4+2⁄3 innings, when he finally walked second baseman Kolten Wong with two outs in the fifth inning. Wong stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Yan Gomes, but did not score. Sánchez threw 17 pitches in the first inning, but then only seven in the second inning, 10 in the third, 11 in the fourth, and 11 in the fifth.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Sánchez did not allow another base runner until the sixth inning, when he hit pinch hitter Randy Arozarena with a pitch; Another St. Louis scoring threat developed that inning when Arozarena advanced to third on a groundout by center fielder Dexter Fowler, but Arozarena was stranded at third base. The Cardinals did not reach base again until Sánchez hit catcher Yadier Molina with a pitch in the seventh inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Sánchez pitched a no-hitter for 7+2⁄3 innings, helped by a spectacular diving grab first baseman Ryan Zimmerman made that robbed right fielder Tommy Edman of a hit on a hard liner to lead off the eighth inning. When pinch hitter José Martínez finally broke up the no-hit bid with a single with two outs in the eighth on Sánchez's 103rd pitch, Dave Martinez took Sánchez out of the game, and as he headed for the dugout, Sánchez made the sportsmanlike gesture of congratulating José Martínez as he stood at first base by pointing to him and clapping his hands.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
The St. Louis crowd recognized Sánchez's achievement with a courteous ovation as he left the field. In Sánchez's 103-pitch outing, he had given up one hit and one walk, thrown 67 strikes, and struck out five Cardinals. He left the game having allowed just one run in the 12+2⁄3 innings he had pitched in the 2019 postseason. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to start two postseason games with six hitless innings, his previous hitless six-inning postseason start having come with the Detroit Tigers against the  New York Yankees in Game 1 of the 2013 American League Championship Series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Although they never got a big hit to break the game open and left 13 runners on base, the Nationals′ offense put far more pressure on the Cardinals′ pitchers. After second baseman Howie Kendrick doubled off St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas to lead off the second inning, catcher Yan Gomes doubled with two outs to drive in Kendrick and give Washington a 1–0 lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Their next scoring threat against Mikolas came in the fifth inning, when Gomes led off with a single, shortstop Trea Turner singled with one out and Gomes advanced to second, and third baseman Anthony Rendon drew a two-out walk to load the bases, but Mikolas got left fielder Juan Soto to ground out to end the inning, grabbing his crotch briefly in Soto's direction before walking off the field – a move apparently made in response to Soto's elaborate between-pitches "Soto Shuffle" routine while batting, which included Soto adjusting his jockstrap and had drawn boos from the crowd. In the sixth inning, Zimmerman doubled with one out, and the Cardinals intentionally walked Gomes with two outs, but the inning ended when Sánchez struck out. Mikolas left the game after the sixth, having allowed one run on seven hits and a walk, striking out seven and throwing 98 pitches.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
The Nationals added to their lead in the seventh inning. Right fielder Adam Eaton hit a one-out triple off reliever Giovanny Gallegos, and the Cardinals intentionally walked Rendon. Andrew Miller relieved Gallegos and struck out Soto. John Brebbia then came into the game to face Kendrick, who singled on Brebbia's second pitch, scoring Eaton to give the Nationals a 2–0 lead and advancing Rendon to second. Zimmerman then walked to load the bases, but center fielder Michael A. Taylor flied out to end the inning. The Nationals threatened again in the ninth, when Soto singled off Tyler Webb with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch by closer Carlos Martínez. St. Louis then intentionally walked Kendrick, but Martínez struck out Zimmerman to end the inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 1, October 11
Meanwhile, Sean Doolittle entered the game in the eighth inning in relief of Sánchez and pitched 1+1⁄3 perfect innings for his first postseason save since 2017, striking out left fielder Marcell Ozuna with his last pitch. Sánchez got his first postseason win since his six-inning, no-hit outing for the Tigers in Game 1 of the 2013 ALCS, and the Nationals won 2–0 and took a 1–0 series lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
4:08 p.m. (EDT) at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Game 2 featured a match-up of two veteran starters, Washington's Max Scherzer and St. Louis's Adam Wainwright. With two ace pitchers on the mound and late-afternoon shadows on the field making it hard for batters to see the ball, another pitcher's duel ensued. Scherzer walked second baseman Kolten Wong in the first inning and center fielder Dexter Fowler in the sixth, but otherwise allowed no base runners and carried a no-hitter through six innings. Wong stole second after walking in the first inning, but he was the only Cardinal to reach scoring position while Scherzer was on the mound.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
First baseman Paul Goldschmidt finally broke up Scherzer's no-hit bid with a single to lead off the seventh inning on a liner into left field that left fielder Juan Soto played conservatively so that the ball would not get past him and allow Goldschmidt to reach scoring position in a one-run game. Goldschmidt got no farther than first base, as Scherzer completed his outing by striking out left fielder Marcell Ozuna and getting catcher Yadier Molina to ground into an inning-ending double play.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Scherzer left the game after seven innings of work having allowed three base runners on one hit and two walks while striking out 11 Cardinals; he threw 101 pitches, 65 of them for strikes. The outing gave him an MLB-record five postseason no-hit bids of at least five innings.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Playing for the Detroit Tigers in 2013, he and Aníbal Sánchez had become the first teammates since postseason play began in 1903 to have back-to-back postseason no-hit bids of at least five innings, when they did it during Games 1 and 2 of the 2013 American League Championship Series; with Sánchez pitching 7+2⁄3 innings of no-hit ball for Washington in Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS the previous evening, they became only the second teammates with back-to-back five-inning no-hit bids in the postseason, and the first to carry postseason no-hit bids through at least six innings in consecutive games.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Wainwright gave up a single to third baseman Anthony Rendon in the first inning, but Rendon was the Nationals′ only base runner until the third inning, when center fielder Michael A. Taylor, again starting in place of the injured Victor Robles, led off by hitting Wainwright's first pitch into the left field stands to give Washington a 1–0 lead. Wainwright cruised through the remainder of the third inning and all the way through the next four innings as well, allowing only a single by Taylor in the fifth inning and a single by shortstop Trea Turner in the sixth.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
The score was still 1–0 when Wainwright finally ran into trouble in the eighth inning. He struck out Taylor to begin the inning, but Matt Adams, pinch-hitting for Scherzer, hit a deep one-out single, then advanced to second on a Trea Turner single. On a full count, right fielder Adam Eaton then hit a double down the right field line that scored Adams and Turner to give the Nationals a 3–0 lead. After St. Louis intentionally walked Rendon, Wainwright left the game after throwing 99 pitches, 73 of them for strikes, over 7+1⁄3 innings, allowing seven hits and a walk while striking out 11 Nats. Andrew Miller relieved him and got two outs to end the inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Sean Doolittle pitched the bottom of the eighth inning for Washington and gave up a two-out single to shortstop Paul DeJong, followed by a liner into center field by pinch hitter José Martínez. Michael A. Taylor misplayed the ball in center field, letting it get over his head, and DeJong came home to score the Cardinals′ first run of the NLCS, making the score 3–1, while Martínez ended up at second base with a double. Doolittle avoided further damage when center fielder Dexter Fowler flied out on his next pitch to end the inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
Ryan Helsley pitched a perfect top of the ninth for St. Louis, and in the bottom of the ninth Patrick Corbin came in to pitch for Washington and got Kolten Wong to ground out on two pitches. Daniel Hudson, who had returned to the team only seven hours earlier after missing Game 1 to be present for the birth of his daughter in Phoenix, Arizona, got the final two outs and his third save of the 2019 postseason to secure a 3–1 Washington victory.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 2, October 12
In the first two games of the series, the Nationals had limited the Cardinals to just four hits – a double that resulted from a misplayed ball and three singles – and had allowed St. Louis to score only one run. The Nationals jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the series, having gone 80–40 in the 120 games they had played since bottoming out at 19–31 on May 23 and having outscored their opponents by 188 runs over that 120-game stretch. The 2019 NLCS moved to Nationals Park for its next game two days later.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
Game 3 – the first League Championship Series game ever held in Washington, D.C. – again featured a contest between two ace pitchers, with  Jack Flaherty taking the ball for St. Louis and Stephen Strasburg on the mound for Washington. Many observers anticipated another pitcher's duel: Flaherty had posted an MLB-best 0.91 ERA in the 16 regular-season starts had made since the 2019 all-star break, and including the two postseason games he had started, his ERA stood at 1.13 and his opponents′ batting average at .151 over his past 18 starts. Strasburg had a career ERA of 1.32 in 34 postseason games.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
After sports entertainment announcer Michael Buffer, serving as the pregame guest announcer, gave his trademark cry "Let’s get ready to rumble!”, Strasburg took the mound. He gave up a leadoff double to left fielder Marcell Ozuna in the second inning, but grabbed a grounder by the next batter he faced, right fielder José Martínez, charged toward Ozuna – who was caught between second and third base – and tagged him out to erase the scoring threat.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
He faced another threat in the fourth inning, when Ozuna and Martínez hit back-to-back two-out singles, but he got out of the inning on a fly out by catcher Yadier Molina. He finally gave up a run in his final inning of work when Martínez and Molina led off with consecutive singles and shortstop Paul DeJong singled with one out, allowing Martínez to score on a throwing error by left fielder Juan Soto that occurred when Soto slipped while attempting to throw the ball into the infield. Strasburg then completed his outing with two consecutive strikeouts.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
He left the game having thrown 117 pitches – the most he had thrown in a single game since a 118-pitch outing in May 2017 – 84 of them for strikes, giving up seven hits, walking no one, and striking out 12 Cardinals. The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he walked to the dugout.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
The Nationals had a big lead by the time Strasburg left the game. Flaherty allowed only a walk in his first two innings of work, but the Nationals′ offense struck in the third inning. After center fielder Victor Robles – making his first appearance since injuring his hamstring in Game 2 of the division series – led off with a single and advanced to second on a Strasburg sacrifice bunt, right fielder Adam Eaton hit a two-out single that drove in Robles. Third baseman Anthony Rendon followed with a double that scored Eaton all the way from first base.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
After Soto walked, second baseman Howie Kendrick doubled, scoring Rendon and Soto, and the third inning ended with Washington ahead 4–0. Flaherty left the game after the fourth inning, giving up five hits and two walks on 78 pitches, striking out six. The four runs he allowed were the most since July 2.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
Washington added to its lead in the fifth inning. Facing St. Louis reliever Tyler Webb, Rendon singled with one out. With two outs, John Brebbia relieved Webb and faced Kendrick, who doubled again, driving in Rendon. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman followed immediately with another double that scored Kendrick, and Washington led 6–0. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Robles led off with a homer off Brebbia that extended the lead to 7–0.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
With the score at 7–1 in the top of the seventh inning, Kendrick hit a two-out double off reliever Daniel Ponce de Leon, and Zimmerman followed with a single that scored Kendrick, giving the Nationals an 8–1 lead. By the time the inning was over, Kendrick had driven in eight runs in four games. During Game 3, he also became only the fourth player to hit three doubles in a League Championship Series game.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
Ponce de Leon allowed only one more base runner when he walked shortstop Trea Turner in the eighth inning, but Fernando Rodney and Tanner Rainey pitched perfect eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and Washington came away with an 8–1 victory. The Nationals had scored seven of their runs with two outs. Strasburg got the win, and his evening ended with him having gone 3–0 in the 2019 postseason with a 1.64 ERA, 33 strikeouts, and one walk in 22 innings of work; his win total for the regular season and postseason combined reached 21.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 3, October 14
Washington's starting pitchers had limited St. Louis to two runs and 11 hits and posted an ERA of 0.00 during the first three games of the series, giving up three walks and striking out 28 Cardinals in 21+2⁄3 innings pitched. Winners of 15 of their last 17 games, the Nationals took a 3–0 lead in the series and had a chance to clinch a berth in the 2019 World Series the following evening.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
After Washington Mystics small forward Elena Delle Donne threw the ceremonial first pitch in honor of the Mystics′ first Women's National Basketball Association championship, which the Mystics had won five days earlier, Game 4 got underway with Patrick Corbin on the mound for Washington and Dakota Hudson starting for St. Louis. The first inning decided the outcome. After Corbin struck out the side in the top of the inning, Hudson ran into trouble immediately in the bottom of the first. Shortstop Trea Turner led off with a single, then advanced to third when right fielder Adam Eaton doubled.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
After third baseman Anthony Rendon drove in Turner with a sacrifice fly, left fielder Juan Soto doubled to score Eaton. The Cardinals then intentionally walked second baseman Howie Kendrick. In the next at-bat, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman hit a grounder to Cardinals third baseman Tommy Edman, but second baseman Kolten Wong dropped Edman's throw to second, resulting in all the runners advancing safely and center fielder Victor Robles coming to bat with the bases loaded.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
Robles singled on a ball to right field that fell into the grass between Wong, first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, and right fielder José Martínez when they failed to communicate about who would make the catch; Soto scored on the play, and the other runners moved up. Catcher Yan Gomes then hit a bases-loaded single that scored Kendrick and Zimmerman and advanced Robles to second. With the Nationals holding a 5–0 lead, St. Louis manager Mike Shildt took Hudson – who had thrown only 15 pitches – out of the game and brought in starter Adam Wainwright in relief.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
After Corbin advanced Robles and Gomes to third and second, respectively, with a sacrifice bunt, Wainwright gave up a single to Turner that scored both Robles and Gomes before Eaton lined out to end the inning. Sending 11 men to the plate, the Nationals had jumped out to a 7–0 lead without hitting a ball any farther than 275 feet (84 m) in the air, and Dakota Hudson was charged with all seven runs, four of them earned, on five hits and a walk in only a third of an inning of work.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
After St. Louis's disastrous first inning, the Cardinals′ pitching staff pitched effectively. Wainwright allowed no base runners in the second inning,  and Ryan Helsley gave up only a walk while pitching the third and fourth innings. Meanwhile, facing a long climb back to avoid elimination, the Cardinals′ offense began to put pressure on Corbin, reaching base for the first time in the third inning when Wong singled and Edman walked, although they did not score. In the fourth, Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina hit a 408-foot (124 m) homer over the center field wall to make the score 7–1.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
St. Louis hitters had their best inning of the entire series in the fifth, when Corbin walked center fielder Harrison Bader, gave up a single to Wong, and walked pinch hitter Dexter Fowler to load the bases with no outs. Edman then grounded out, but in the process drove in Bader to make the score 7–2 and advanced Wong and Fowler. With one out, Martínez doubled, scoring both Wong and Fowler, and the Cardinals closed to 7–4. Corbin then completed his outing by extinguishing the St. Louis rally with consecutive strikeouts. He left the game after the inning after throwing 94 pitches, giving up four runs on four hits and three walks but striking out 12. He became the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 10 batters in the first four innings of a postseason game.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
Both bullpens pitched the next two innings without much trouble. In the sixth and seventh, St. Louis reliever Giovanny Gallegos pitched one-hit shutout ball, while Tanner Rainey pitched a perfect sixth inning for Washington and Sean Doolittle followed with a perfect seventh. In the eighth inning, Doolittle came back out and retired the first two batters he faced before giving up a two-out single to left fielder Marcell Ozuna.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
Daniel Hudson relieved Doolittle and a St. Louis scoring threat developed when he hit Molina with a pitch and walked shortstop Paul DeJong to load the bases before he got pinch hitter Matt Carpenter – a career .481 hitter with the bases loaded – to ground out to end the inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
After Cardinals reliever Andrew Miller retired all three Nationals he faced in the bottom of the eighth inning, Daniel Hudson returned to the mound to pitch a perfect ninth.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
On the 94th birthday of Ted Lerner, who had served as managing principal owner of the Nationals from 2006 to 2018, the Nationals won 7–4 to sweep the 2019 NLCS and win the first National League pennant in the history of both the Montreal-Washington franchise and Washington, D.C., as well as Washington, D.C.′s first MLB league championship of any kind since the original Washington Senators won the American League pennant in 1933.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
The Nationals advanced to the World Series for the first time in Montreal-Washington franchise history, and a Washington, D.C., MLB team earned a World Series berth for the first time since the original Senators reached the Series in 1933. Outscoring the Cardinals 20–6 in the NLCS, the 2019 Nationals became only the fourth team in MLB history to reach the World Series after falling to 12 games below .500 during the regular season. Since hitting that low point with a record of 19–31 on May 23, they had posted the best record in MLB – 82–40, a .672 winning percentage – through the final game of the NLCS.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, League Championship Series, Game 4, October 15
With fans chanting "Howie! Howie!" from the stands and his teammates giving him a standing ovation, Howie Kendrick received the 2019 National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award after the game. In Game 3, he had gone 3-for-4 with three RBIs and had become only the fourth player to hit three doubles in a League Championship Series game. For the series as a whole, he went 5-for-15 (.333) at the plate with four doubles and four RBIs, and he scored four runs.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
8:08 p.m. (EDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
While a watch party took place on a wet night at Nationals Park in Washington, Game 1 was played at Minute Maid Park in Houston as the Nationals faced the heavily favored Houston Astros in the first World Series game in Montreal-Washington franchise history and the first World Series game in Washington, D.C., baseball history since the Washington Senators played the final game of the 1933 World Series on October 7, 1933.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
Gerrit Cole – who had not lost a game since May 22, winning 19 games over 25 starts since then, leading the major leagues in strikeouts in 2019 – started for Houston and on his second pitch gave up a leadoff single to shortstop Trea Turner, who then stole second base – Washington's first stolen-base attempt of the 2019 postseason – but was stranded there.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
Max Scherzer started for the Nationals and walked the Astros′ leadoff hitter, center fielder George Springer, followed by a single to second baseman José Altuve and two-out, bases-clearing double to first baseman Yuli Gurriel that gave Houston a 2–0 lead after one inning. With a rapidly mounting pitch count and Houston's offense keeping up pressure on Nats pitchers all evening, he continued to labor, but got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning and an Astros scoring threat with runners on first and second in the fourth inning. He finished his outing with a perfect fifth inning that concluded with a strikeout. He left the game after throwing 112 pitches, 65 of them for strikes, and giving up  five hits and three walks, striking out seven.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
The Nationals began a comeback in the second inning on a two-out, 413-foot (126 m) solo homer by first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, the first World Series home run in both Nationals and franchise history. In the fourth inning, left fielder Juan Soto tied the game at 2–2 on a leadoff 417-foot (127 m) homer that landed on the retractable roof's track system in center field, becoming the fourth-youngest player ever to homer in a World Series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
The Nationals broke the tie in the fifth inning, when catcher Kurt Suzuki led off with a walk, center fielder Victor Robles singled, advancing Suzuki to second, and Suzuki tagged and advanced to third on a Turner line out. Right fielder Adam Eaton then singled, driving in Suzuki to give the Nationals a 3–2 lead and advancing Robles to second. After third baseman Anthony Rendon grounded into a fielder's choice that advanced Robles to third, Soto hit a two-out double that scored both Robles and Rendon and stretched Washington's lead to 5–2.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
Houston shortstop Carlos Correa finally brought the inning to an end by robbing designated hitter Howie Kendrick of a single on a hard liner. Patrick Corbin pitched a one-hit top of the sixth inning for Washington, and Cole pitched through the top of the seventh, leaving the game with 104 pitches, 70 for strikes, with six strikeouts and a walk and having allowed eight hits.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
The Astros made a comeback bid of their own beginning in the seventh inning, when Tanner Rainey came in to pitch for the Nationals. Rainey gave up a leadoff 428-foot (130 m) homer to Springer – Springer setting a new record by hitting a homer in five straight World Series games – followed by two one-out walks. Daniel Hudson relieved him and, although Houston loaded the bases, got out of the inning without further damage and Washington holding a 5–3 lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 1, October 22
The Astros threatened to tie the game in the eighth inning, when pinch hitter Kyle Tucker led off with a single, tagged and advanced to second on a fly out, and scored on a one-out Springer double that narrowly missed going over the fence to reduce Washington's lead to one run. After Altuve flied out, however, Sean Doolittle relieved Hudson and closed the game with a perfect final 1+1⁄3 innings. The Nationals won 5–4 – their 17th win in 19 games dating back into the regular season – to stretch their postseason winning streak to seven games and take a 1–0 lead in the World Series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
Game 2 saw another meeting of two dominating pitchers, with Justin Verlander on the mound for Houston and Stephen Strasburg for Washington. Each of them allowed two runs in the first inning. After Verlander walked Washington's leadoff hitter, shortstop Trea Turner, on four pitches and gave up a single to right fielder Adam Eaton, third baseman Anthony Rendon doubled to score both of them and give the Nationals a 2–0 lead before Verlander recorded his first out.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
In the bottom of the inning, Strasburg gave up a one-out double to second baseman José Altuve, but that scoring threat dissipated when catcher Kurt Suzuki cut Altuve down as he tried to steal third. With two outs, however, left fielder Michael Brantley singled and third baseman Alex Bregman hit a 411-foot (125 m) homer to left that tied the game at 2–2.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
The game remained tied through the end of the sixth inning. In the second inning, Verlander struck out center fielder Victor Robles for his 200th career postseason strikeout, a new MLB record. He scattered four hits and a walk, the Nationals posing a scoring threat only when left fielder Juan Soto doubled with two outs in the third inning. The Astros′ lineup put more pressure on Strasburg. In the third inning, Altuve reached first on a two-out Turner throwing error and advanced to third when Brantley singled, but neither of them scored.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
In the fourth inning, designated hitter Yordan Álvarez singled with one out and reached second on a groundout, but was stranded there. In the sixth inning, first baseman Yuli Gurriel hit a one-out double and the Nationals intentionally walked the hot-hitting Álvarez, but Strasburg got out of the inning on a pop out and a strikeout. It completed his outing, and he exited the game after giving up seven hits and a walk and striking out seven Astros on 114 pitches, 77 of them for strikes.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
The Nationals finally broke the tie in the seventh inning, when Suzuki led off and homered to left – the first postseason home run of his career – on Verlander's second pitch of the inning and 100th of the game to give Washington a 3–2 lead. Verlander then walked Robles, and Astros manager A. J. Hinch took him out of the game after he had thrown 107 pitches, 69 for strikes, giving up four hits and three walks and striking out six Nats; he left the field with an MLB-record 202 career postseason strikeouts.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
Ryan Pressly came in to pitch and walked Turner, after which Eaton advanced Robles to third and Turner to second with a sacrifice bunt. After Rendon flied out, Houston intentionally walked Soto – the first intentional walk Houston had issued all season – to load the bases and bring designated hitter Howie Kendrick to the plate. Kendrick beat out an infield single which scored Robles, extending the Nationals′ lead to 4–2. Second baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera singled, scoring Turner and Soto, making the lead 6–2.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
After Kendrick and Cabrera advanced to third and second, respectively, on a Pressly wild pitch, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman reached first on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by Bregman, Kendrick and Cabrera scoring on the play to make the score 8–2. Many Astros fans headed for the exits at Minute Maid Park.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
After Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh, the Nationals returned to the plate in the eighth. Robles led off and struck out but reached first base on a passed ball. Eaton hit a one-out homer, scoring Robles and extending the lead to 10–2. With two outs, Soto walked, Kendrick singled, and Cabrera singled, scoring Soto to make the score 11–2. Tanner Rainey pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth, and Washington scored a final run when Michael A. Taylor, who had replaced Robles in center field, hit the first pitch he saw over the left field wall, a one-out homer that gave Washington a 12–2 lead.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 2, October 23
In the bottom of the ninth, Houston catcher Martín Maldonado hit a one-out, 409-foot (125 m) homer off reliever Javy Guerra to make the score 12–3. Two more Astros reached base in the ninth before Guerra induced a game-ending groundout. Strasburg was credited with the win, making him 4–0 in the 2019 postseason, while Verlander's career World Series record fell to 0–5. Winners of eight games in a row and 18 of their last 20, the Nationals won to take a 2–0 lead in the World Series with the next game scheduled for two nights later at Nationals Park.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 3, October 25
Game 3 was played at Nationals Park against the Houston Astros. It was the first World Series game ever played at Nationals Park, and the first World Series game played in Washington, D.C., since October 7, 1933. The Astros won the game, with six pitchers combining to limit the Nationals to just one run.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 4, October 26
The Houston Astros won their second straight game to even the series, with rookie José Urquidy outdueling Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin for the win. Alex Bregman hit a grand slam in the seventh inning off veteran reliever Fernando Rodney.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 5, October 27
The Houston Astros defeated the Nationals to take a 3–2 lead in the World Series.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 6, October 29
8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 6, October 29
With a chance to clinch victory in the World Series, the Houston Astros were instead overmatched by Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg, who outdueled Justin Verlander behind key home runs from Adam Eaton, Anthony Rendon, and Juan Soto to even the series. Verlander gave up a first-inning run on an RBI single by Rendon.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 6, October 29
Despite falling behind in the bottom of the first, after a José Altuve sacrifice fly that tied the game was followed by a home run by Alex Bregman, who carried his bat past first base after admiring the blast into the Crawford Boxes in left field, the Nationals rallied to take the lead back in the fifth inning. They tied it on a solo home run by Eaton. A batter later, Soto homered deep to right field, then mimicked Bregman by carrying his bat nearly all the way to first base before dropping it.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 6, October 29
In the seventh inning, Trea Turner was controversially called out for interference as home plate umpire Sam Holbrook ruled that he prevented first baseman Yuli Gurriel from cleanly catching a throw from Brad Peacock. Manager Dave Martinez attempted to play the rest of the game under protest, but after conferring with the replay center, the umpires disallowed the protest. Martinez was subsequently ejected for continuing to argue. Although the call forced baserunner Yan Gomes to return to first base, Rendon picked up Turner by smashing a two-run home run to left field off reliever Will Harris, giving the Nationals a three-run lead. Rendon doubled in two more in the ninth inning, giving the Nationals their 7–2 victory.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 6, October 29
It was the fourth elimination game in the 2019 postseason that the Nationals won despite trailing at one point in the game, the first time in major league playoff history that had happened.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
8:07 p.m. (EDT) at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
Having gone the distance in the World Series, the Nationals and the Houston Astros met for the deciding game in front of an Astros home crowd. Houston starter Zach Greinke effectively shut down the Nationals for six innings, as meanwhile, a visibly laboring Max Scherzer grinded through a five-inning, two-run start, giving up a home run in the second inning to Yuli Gurriel and an RBI single to Carlos Correa in the fifth inning.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
However, Anthony Rendon cut the Astros' lead in half with a seventh-inning home run off Greinke, and after Juan Soto drew a walk, Astros manager A. J. Hinch took Greinke out of the game in favor of reliever Will Harris. Designated hitter Howie Kendrick greeted Harris by launching a 0–1 pitch down and away, lining it off the right field foul pole for a go-ahead, two-run home run. Kendrick's home run was later graded as one of the 10 "biggest hits" in MLB postseason history, swinging the Nationals from decided underdogs in the game to clear favorites.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
The Nationals held on behind three strong innings from Game 4 starter Patrick Corbin, who took over from Scherzer in relief. Soto and Adam Eaton padded the lead with RBI singles in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, giving Washington closer Daniel Hudson a four-run lead to work with in the bottom of the ninth. Hudson retired the side in order, striking out José Altuve and Michael Brantley to seal the first World Series championship for Washington in 95 years and the first in the 51-year history of the Montreal Expos–Washington Nationals franchise.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
With the win, the Nationals also achieved a number of other firsts. Stephen Strasburg became the first No. 1 overall draft pick to be named World Series MVP with the team that drafted him. Strasburg became the first pitcher to post a win-loss record of 5–0 in the postseason. The Nationals improved their record in 2019 postseason games started by Strasburg and Scherzer to 10–0, a record for a team behind two starting pitchers. The Nationals became the first team in World Series history to win all four games on the road.


2019 Washington Nationals postseason, World Series, Game 7, October 30
The Nationals also set a record for the worst record through the first 50 games of the season, 19–31, by a championship team. The Nationals accomplished something no other championship team had done by winning five elimination games despite trailing at one point in each of them. The Nationals furthermore became the first team in major league history to win the World Series by defeating two teams that had won 105 or more games, the 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers and the 107-win Houston Astros, during the regular season.


2019 Washington Nationals season
The 2019 Washington Nationals season was the Nationals' 15th season competing as the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise representative in the District of Columbia, the 12th season at Nationals Park, and the 51st since the original team was started in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team clinched a playoff berth for the third time in four seasons on September 24. The Nationals won their first ever National League pennant on October 15, and eventually won their first World Series in franchise history on October 30, becoming the seventh Wild Card team to win the World Series.


2019 Washington Nationals season
The Nationals began their regular season at home against the New York Mets on March 28 and ended their regular season at home against the Cleveland Indians on September 29. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card Game on October 1 and upset the two-time defending National League champions and 106 game winning Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the Division Series, before advancing to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1981, where they swept the St. Louis Cardinals.


2019 Washington Nationals season
They won the pennant and advanced to the World Series for the first time in Nationals franchise history. This was also Washington, D.C.'s first appearance in the World Series since the American League's Senators in 1933. They proceeded to defeat the Houston Astros in seven games to capture the franchise's first World Series championship, and the first for Washington, D.C. since 1924.


2019 Washington Nationals season
The Nationals also became just the second team to sweep their opponent in the League Championship Series since going to a best-of-seven format, and subsequently go on to win the World Series, the other team being the 1995 Atlanta Braves, and the first team in North  American professional sports to win all road games in a playoff series when they prevailed over the Astros.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
With the Washington Nationals coming off a disappointing 82–80 2018 season, general manager and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo nonetheless declared confidence in manager Dave Martinez and his coaching staff, all under contract for the 2019 season.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals' player development contract with the Class-AAA Syracuse Chiefs expired following the 2018 minor league season. Instead, the Nationals signed a two-year player development contract with the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League, although Rizzo publicly acknowledged Fresno was team officials' "second choice" behind the Nashville Sounds, who signed a four-year deal with the Texas Rangers instead.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
Set to become a free agent after the 2018 season, Bryce Harper indicated in numerous interviews and speaking appearances that he was interested in reaching a new deal with the Nationals, despite considerable media speculation that Washington would be unwilling to meet Harper's likely asking price for a contract.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals made Harper what principal managing owner Mark Lerner later described as "one heck of an offer" in an attempt to extend him toward the end of the 2018 season, reported to be roughly $300 million over ten years, which would have been a record-setting amount for a free agent in American sports, but Harper elected free agency and Lerner said in December he expected him to sign for a higher bid elsewhere.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
Harper ultimately signed with the division-rival Philadelphia Phillies for a reported $330 million over 13 years, the largest free agent contract in the history of North American sports, after a pursuit that stretched into March. Along with Harper, starting pitcher Jeremy Hellickson, catcher Matt Wieters, infielder Mark Reynolds, and relievers Joaquín Benoit, Tim Collins, Kelvin Herrera, and Greg Holland became free agents after the 2018 season. Catcher Jhonatan Solano elected free agency as well after being outrighted from the roster. Hellickson signed a new one-year major league contract to stay in Washington for the 2019 season.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals negotiated a deal with free agent reliever Trevor Rosenthal, which was officially announced November 3. On November 20, the Nationals announced a reunion with their former catcher Kurt Suzuki, who last suited up for Washington in the 2013 season. Left-handed-hitting first baseman Matt Adams, who had played for Washington during the 2018 season before being claimed off waivers in August by the St. Louis Cardinals, also reunited with the Nationals on a one-year deal with a mutual option for the 2020 season.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals' stated top pitching target, left-handed starter Patrick Corbin, was introduced December 7 in a press conference as Washington inked him to a six-year deal. Washington added another free agent to its starting rotation on December 27, when the team announced the signing of right-hander Aníbal Sánchez. Shoring up another positional weakness, the Nationals officially signed veteran second baseman Brian Dozier to a one-year deal on January 13. Days after releasing former top pitching prospect Sammy Solís in March, the Nationals signed another veteran left-handed reliever, Tony Sipp, to a one-year major league contract with a 2020 mutual option.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals swung a rare October trade with the division-rival Miami Marlins, acquiring former closer Kyle Barraclough for international bonus money on October 10. Ten days after signing Suzuki, the Nationals made another trade to bolster their catching corps, sending pitcher Jefry Rodríguez, a minor league outfielder, and a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for veteran Yan Gomes. Less than a week after signing Corbin, the Nationals dealt from their starting rotation as they sent veteran right-hander Tanner Roark to the Cincinnati Reds for Tanner Rainey, a rookie reliever.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The team traded right-handed reliever Trevor Gott off waivers to the San Francisco Giants for cash considerations in February, on the eve of the start of spring training. Catcher Pedro Severino, out of minor league options and blocked from the major league roster by Suzuki and Gomes, was placed on waivers toward the end of March and claimed by the Baltimore Orioles on March 23.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Team news
The Nationals tendered contracts to all of their arbitration-eligible players—Barraclough, Roark, Solís, Anthony Rendon, Joe Ross, Michael A. Taylor, and Trea Turner—but traded Roark before the terms of his 2019 contract were agreed upon and released Solís during spring training, on the last day the team would owe him only one-sixth of his 2019 salary. Barraclough and Taylor did not settle with the team on contract terms, sending Washington to salary arbitration for the first time since the 2014–15 offseason. The arbitration panel sided with the team against both players.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
The Nationals held spring training at their facility at FITTEAM Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida, which they shared with the Houston Astros. It was their third year at the facility.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
The day before opening camp, the Nationals announced a slate of non-roster invitees to major league spring training including top infield prospects Carter Kieboom and Luis García, as well as left-handed pitcher Vidal Nuño; right-handed pitchers Henderson Álvarez, Aaron Barrett, Wil Crowe, J. J. Hoover, and Ronald Peña; catchers Tres Barrera and Taylor Gushue; infielders Jose Marmolejos, Jake Noll, Matt Reynolds, and Brandon Snyder; and outfielders Hunter Jones and Chuck Taylor.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
Veteran utilityman Howie Kendrick had recovered enough from a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered in May 2018 to participate in spring training workouts and games from the beginning. However, Kendrick suffered another leg injury, a strained hamstring, while running the bases in an early March game, taking him out of commission for at least a few weeks. Outfielder Michael A. Taylor, competing for the role of starting center fielder, sprained his left knee and hip after catching a cleat in a March game. Also hampered by injuries were right-handed relievers Justin Miller, who strained his lower back and missed just over a week before returning to action in mid-March, and Koda Glover, who was lifted from his first spring game in late February with a forearm strain and was shut down from throwing.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
The Nationals broke camp at West Palm Beach on March 24 to head north for the year. On March 25, they defeated the New York Yankees 5–3 in an exhibition game at Nationals Park. Including that game, the Nationals completed spring training with a Grapefruit League record of 17–12–2, third-best in the Grapefruit League and better than any Cactus League team's record.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Offseason, Spring training
On March 27, the Nationals, following Jake Noll's strong spring performance in which he hit .320 and batted in 10 runs, purchased his contract from the Class-AA Harrisburg Senators. The Nationals placed him on the 25-man roster for Opening Day.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
Opening Day on March 28 – the earliest opening day in MLB history excluding international openers – saw a pitchers′ duel before a sell-out crowd at Nationals Park between the starters who had won the last three Cy Young Awards: the New York Mets′ Jacob deGrom, who won it in 2018, and Washington's Max Scherzer, who won it in 2013 as well as  2016 and 2017 and was the runner-up for it in 2018. DeGrom threw 93 pitches over six scoreless innings, 59 of them for strikes, scattering a double, four singles, and a walk, while striking out 10.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
The Nationals threatened only twice against him. In the bottom of the third inning with New York leading 1–0, center fielder Víctor Robles led off with a double – the Nationals′ only extra-base hit of the game – and advanced to third with no outs when right fielder Adam Eaton singled, but after shortstop Trea Turner struck out, Robles was too far off third when third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a chopper to third. The Mets forced Eaton out at second and Robles was caught in a rundown between third and home, resulting in an inning-ending double play.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
In the bottom of the sixth, shortstop Trea Turner led off with a single, stole second, and then stole third with one out – giving him three stolen bases for the game, making him only the seventh player in MLB history to steal three bases on Opening Day and the first to do so since 2009 – but left fielder Juan Soto struck out and first baseman Ryan Zimmerman popped out, stranding Turner at third. The Nats never threatened again against either deGrom or the Mets′ bullpen; Mets reliever Seth Lugo struck out the side in the top of the seventh and Jeurys Familia and Edwin Díaz pitched scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth as Mets pitchers combined to strike out 14 Nats.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
Scherzer, meanwhile, gave up a solo homer in the top of the first inning to the third batter he faced, Mets second baseman Robinson Canó, but left the game with the score still 1–0 after throwing 109 pitches, 76 of them for strikes, over 7+2⁄3 innings and striking out 12 Mets, giving up only one more hit and two walks.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
However, Mets pinch-hitter Dominic Smith, who Scherzer had walked in the top of the eighth inning before leaving the game, advanced to second on a single reliever Justin Miller gave up to Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, and then reliever Matt Grace surrendered a single to Canó, which drove in Smith and resulted in a second run charged to Scherzer and New York adding to its lead. Nats pitchers gave up only five hits, all singles except for Canó's homer, but the Nats also managed only five hits, four of them singles, and the Mets shut them out 2–0.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, Opening Day, Game recap
It was only the second Opening Day game in MLB history in which both starting pitchers had ten or more strikeouts. Scherzer became the 16th pitcher in MLB history to strike out 12 or more batters on Opening Day, and it was the 83rd game of his career with 10 or more strikeouts.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, March–April
The Nationals lost their first two games to the division-rival New York Mets. A quality start by Patrick Corbin, who left the Nationals with the lead, was squandered in the third game on March 31 by ineffectual Washington relief pitching, including a blown save by closer Sean Doolittle in his first opportunity of the season. The Nationals rallied against Mets reliever Justin Wilson to win 6–5 as shortstop Trea Turner socked a walk-off home run to left field, his second homer of the game.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, March–April
On April 2, Philadelphia Phillies starter Zach Eflin broke Turner's index finger with a fastball as he squared to bunt, sending him to the injured list. In former Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper's return to Nationals Park with the rival Phillies, Max Scherzer struck Harper out twice, but Harper hit safely in each of his last three at-bats, capped by a two-run home run off Jeremy Hellickson with the Phillies already leading 6–2, giving the game its final 8–2 score.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, March–April
The Nationals salvaged the two-game series by winning April 3 on a bases-loaded, ninth-inning walk issued by Phillies reliever David Robertson to rookie pinch-hitter Jake Noll.


2019 Washington Nationals season, Regular season, March–April
Noll's first career RBI finished off a seesaw contest in which the Phillies scored twice off Nationals starter Aníbal Sánchez in the first inning; the Nationals responded by reeling off six unanswered runs against Phillies ace Aaron Nola; after Sánchez exited with a bruise on his hip from a line-drive comebacker, the Phillies scored six unanswered runs of their own off Nationals relievers; and after Phillies manager Gabe Kapler inserted his closer Seranthony Domínguez in the ninth inning, the Nationals scored one run on a double by catcher Yan Gomes and then tied the game as Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins couldn't haul in a relay throw to retire a hustling Adam Eaton.